Caps Take on Kraken
Winners of three of last four, Caps aim to keep rolling in Seattle on Thursday
Washington's season long six-game journey continues on Thursday night when it makes its second ever visit to the Emerald City to take on the Seattle Kraken. The Caps split the first two games of the trip, falling in New Jersey on Saturday before taking down the Canucks in Vancouver on Tuesday, with both contests decided by identical 5-1 scores.
With Tuesday's triumph in Vancouver, the Caps put a halt to a six-game road losing streak (0-4-2), their longest road dry spell in more than 15 years. Washington got the jump on its hosts with a pair of Alex Ovechkin goals in the first period, and the Caps led by multiple goals for all but 40 seconds the rest of the way.
"I think the first shift, we have a pretty good chance to score a goal and it kind of gave us some momentum," says Ovechkin. "When you start a game like that, it's always a plus for you and you're feeling it."
The Caps scored three first-period goals against the Canucks, marking just the third time in 24 games this season they've managed to put a crooked number on the board in the first period. Ironically, each of the first two instances were also on the road and in the team's first two road games of the season, both of which were losses, 3-2 in Toronto on Oct. 13 and 5-2 in Ottawa exactly a week later. Washington entered Tuesday's game with just 11 first-period goals, tied for 30th in the NHL.
But even before Ovechkin's first goal at 5:35 of the first, the Caps had some golden looks at the Canucks' cage, and they kept the heat on for most of the night. According to naturalstattrick.com, the Caps outdid the Canucks 13-4 in high danger scoring chances on the night, including 9-2 in the first period.
"We take pride in getting those chances and trying to outdo the other team on those slot chances, those 'zone one' chances, we call them," says Caps center Dylan Strome. "To get in there and get those, those are important; obviously that's where most of the goals are scored. When we do that, I think the results have been good for us when we've got more zone ones than them."
The Caps had but one power play opportunity in Tuesday's game, and it came in the third period and was short-lived; the team spent a mere 44 seconds with the extra man. Ovechkin scored his two first-period goals with just 3:58 in ice time for the frame, and his game total of 15:48 was his lowest in 24 games this season and his lowest since the last regular season game in which he appeared last season, on April 24 vs. Toronto when he logged 14:41.
Washington rolled four lines and all four were effective and creative, and three of them found the scoresheet. The Caps' attack was also diverse; they scored a couple on the forecheck, one on the rush, one on an exemplary offensive zone shift and another from distance into an empty net.
"When you're moving the puck well from our zone to the neutral zone, and we have full speed coming up to the offensive zone, it's always dangerous," says Ovechkin, "It's always nice to create the play on the rush, and I think we are forechecking well and we've making nice plays, and you can see we are holding the puck in the offensive zone as well. And when you play like that, the chances are always going to be there."
Ovechkin has had a pair of two-goal games this season, both against Vancouver and former Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. The Caps' captain now has 13 goals on the season and 793 for his illustrious career, putting The Great Eight just eight pucks behind the legendary Gordie Howe (801) for second place on the NHL's all-time goals ledger.
Now, it's on to Seattle. The Caps experienced some travel woes during the short commute from Vancouver to Seattle, scotching a scheduled practice in the Emerald City on Wednesday, and they will reconvene on Thursday for a morning skate at Climate Pledge Arena, seeking to expand upon their modest run of three wins in the last four games.
"We played well, and hopefully we can take it in, and take this momentum into Seattle," says Strome.
In its second season now, the Kraken is coming into its own. Seattle enters Thursday's game with a six-game winning streak - the longest in the franchise's brief history - and it is 11-1-1 in its last 13 contests.
Most recently, the Kraken outlasted the Kings by a 9-8 count in overtime on Tuesday in Los Angeles, completing a three-game sweep of a Pacific Division road trip thanks to a game-winner from former Capital Andre Burakovsky - his second goal of the game - in the extra session.
Ex-Caps defenseman Justin Schultz had three assists in the first period of Tuesday's tilt, a record for most helpers in a period by a Kraken blueliner. Schultz carries a six-game point streak into Thursday's game, also a record for Seattle defensemen.
